Where You Lead Me

Too Much Has Happened

...or maybe not.

Yangshuo

Jennifer, her two friends Ana and Jean, and I went to Yangshuo, China...it's a small city on the outskirts of Guilin. I don't have time to write about it, but I'll post up pictures soon. Here are some quotes I wrote down:

Quote 1:
Angela: Does money even work here?
Jennifer: No, they barter. How much can I get for my Watson's water?

Quote 2:
(On train upon seeing someone with food and thinking we won't get food for 13 hours.)
A: What are we going to do?! I'll show you my boobs!

Quote 3:
A: I have a huge butt rash.
J: They have a baby at West Lily (hostel). Maybe you can borrow their diaper rash.

Quote 4:
J: I'm glad we're here.
(5 min. later)
J: Angela, I'm glad Mommy instilled in us a love of traveling.
A: Jennifer, can you stop with the deep thoughts? I'm trying to enjoy the scenery.
(Both laugh)

Quote 5:
(Jen needed to spit a loogi in our orange bag. After she spit:)
"The oranges are like 'Oh no! Don't spit, I'm still here.'"

Quote 6:
(Right before we were leaving Yangshuo, we kept buying oranges to give as gift to hostel to eat on bus.)
Angela: We're going to have a billion oranges and no money to go home.

Quote 7:
(We were on a full bus to go home and Jen kept saying how we only spent so much, but we still have money left over.)
J: OMG I still have SO much money left over.
A: OMG Can you stop announcing your financial situation?
J: Haha, now they're really going to jack us!

Quote 8:
(I was in a huge rush and accidentally called my own price for the bus, to which the driver happily agreed.)
A: How much?! How much?! FIFTEEN!??!
Driver: OK! OK! 15!!
A: Shoot.

Quote 9:
(Jennifer received a coconut purse as a gift from the people at the Ancient Totem Pole Path show for being in it, lol.)
J: Oh I know why my backpack is so huge; it's my stupid coconut purse.

Day Back From Yangshuo
CRAZY. That's all I have to say. Well, I went to a salon and a guy named Tick did my hair. I permed it wavy. Lol. Jennifer's friends said it looked really good, but I think it's a disaster. I look like a MOM.

The Vine 180 Retreat
I couldn't stop crying the moment I stepped into where they were worshipping. God is strong there. Jennifer's friend Allison prayed for me and prophesied...and it was ALL COMPLETELY ACCURATE! More pictures to come from the retreat, because if I wrote everything down, it would just take too long. All I have to say is GOD IS SO AMAZING AND SO REAL.

Other Comments:
1. I'm okay with disgusting, have-to-stoop-down-to-pee toilets now. I embrace 'em.
2. People in HK are crazy mean. People in Yangshuo were extremely friendly and went out of their way to help you. I missed it so much when I got back to HK - so different.
3. Hold on to good friends. This is important!
4. GOD IS AMAZING.

It's 3:54 am and I'm in Allison's dorm. I got kicked out of POLITELY from where I was living. L.O.L. That's also another story...hahahahahaha! I'm losing control and I LOVE IT!!!!! (God is teaching me!!)

In Hong Kong

Please stay tuned until after I leave Hong Kong for an update...!

Actually, until then, this is something really funny. I saw this on the bulletin board of the CUHK (Chinese University of Hong Kong) Grace Tien Hall Dorm, on one of the girls' floors:

"cup + grey bowl: I see it, u die! Plz leave it outside. 213_"

Hilarious.

By the way, CUHK is where my sister is studying as an exchange student. It's on a gigantic mountain and walking around campus is so tiring...on the plus side, the canteen food is amazing, and they have the best HK-style milk tea. Mmmmm.

Oh, and I met some of my sister's floormates and they are social work majors...and so hilarious. We cooked dinner together, ate, and talked. Sigh. And, of course, we talked about the boyfriends/guys/dating topic for the longest time! They're really dramatic about everything and so goofy.

I told them I was single, and they were like "WHAAAAAAAT?!" Lol, is that like some sort of sin or something? Hehe. I had a great time.

Lots of pictures to come after HK (December 20th). We're still going to Shenzhen, Guiling, Yangshuo, and South Korea. So, lots of pics.

Funny Observations...

1. My older cousin and I were walking down the mountain to go to Tonghua Night Market the other day to get some small snacks and fruits, and a taxicab honked and zoomed past us. We were already walking like right next to the cars. Were we supposed to climb on top of the cars or something?

2. My cousins and I just ate at this all-you-can-eat hotpot place, and I walked all the way home, which is a long-a** way. I thought if I stopped walking, I'd puke right there on the street. Normal logic is "You eat to enjoy the food, so just eat until you're satisfied", and Asian logic is "I have to eat as much as I can so I can get my money's worth" and Asian logic is what got me in this situation. At least I got in some exercise, because I've been eating enormous amounts of food lately...

3. As I was walking up the mountain to go home, I passed a security guard for an apartment complex in his box practicing the flute. L.O.L. You know those ladies in those old Chinese movies with flowing qipaos and huge ornaments dangling off their head? They play flutes.

4. I was walking and saw a ginormous (I know it's not a word, okay) dog that kept barking. As I walked past, the lady said, "Why are you barking so loud? Do you know that that's not good?" What the heck? You don't reason with a freakin' dog.

5. I was walking across the street to the Cathay Hospital to get my third chemical peel, and saw a nicely-dressed, seemingly decent guy in front of me standing on the street corner, fixing his pants around that area. He fixed the front then he fixed the back. We were in a really nice area and he was standing on the corner of a really big street with about 30-40 people crossing. I don't get it. You just couldn't wait? Are you like 5?!

My mom wasn't kidding when she said the word I'll use most often in Taiwan is "unbelievable".

My sister and I were talking on Skype and we concluded that God always does things last minute. She said that she's always to the point of pulling out her hair and freakin' out, and then God says, here's a solution. Lol, which is so true.

Hurry!

1. I took the Taiwan High Speed Rail to Kaohsiung (yeah, that's how they spell it, ridiculous. the entire world is using pinyin and Taiwan created their own pinyin. so stupid.) Anyway, I was walking into the elevator that would take me down to the "cars" (train) and there were four or five other 40 year olds, one holding a child, about to board the elevator. The elevator door opened and they rushed in. One of the "moms" that was standing in the elevator was outwardly fidgety and as we walked in, she goes "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! (not exaggerating) Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Get in! Get in! Get in! Which one is it?! One or two?!" I half-expected there to be a bomb somewhere near us. I think my blood pressure shot up 10 points, and I don't know how high hers shot up. Jeez.

2. I boarded late, and I had a window seat, so when I got there, a mom and daughter were already sitting down with their two luggages in front of them. The daughter got up and took her luggage out, so I could get in, and prepared to take her mom's luggage out. Her mom then goes, in Taiwanese (that's about all I know in Taiwanese), "It's okay, it's okay!" LOL. Like, wow. How rude would that be in the U.S.? Oh, man, Taiwanese people...sometimes I just don't know.

It's when I experience small nuances like this that give light to the Taiwanese people or culture that I feel 150% FOREIGN.

My Story

I realized all that has happened to me since I became Christian has never been written down. I don't ever want to forget the things God has done in my life. So, here's my story...

I became Christian freshman year of college when I was in a crappy relationship and bad time in my life. I remember going to a church with a group of people and Jaeson Ma was there...he had just finished a conference in Houston that my sisters went to. At that time, my ex-boyfriend and I had broken up for a good six months or so, I had tranferred to UT and was, unbeknownst to me, very depressed and lonely. I had come out of a physically and emotionally abusive relationship that had destroyed me.

I was in desperate need of God, and I didn't even know. I prayed, yes, but I felt like I was in a dark hole. Jaeson Ma prayed over people - some cried, some didn't. I went up there and he prayed over me, and I'll never forget what he said. I remember everything Jaeson Ma relayed from God, even though I started crying right when he started speaking. He said, "God sees you and he knows you're lonely. He wants you to know you're the apple of his eye. He has a magnifying glass on you. He loves you." Then, he started saying, "Evangelism, East Asia, South America, write down everything that you think of, carry a notebook with you." He said the exact words to make me feel like he completely understood - it could only have come from God, because these were the things I had prayed to God before. He said things I felt but could not put into words. Only God could have known.

I started in a small, Chinese house church and had gone to Canada Bread of Life's 5 Bread 2 Fish conferences, etc. It was from them that I first heard of the 10/40 window and the Back to Jerusalem movement...that the gospel would be brought to Asia and then back to Jerusalem to complete the full circle. They said Asians in the U.S. are important, because what they need in Asia is money. I later realized that God was slowly introducing me to what is happening in Asia, and I started picking up books like "Brother Yun: The Heavenly Man" and "The Back to Jerusalem Movement." People didn't introduce these books to me, I just somehow found out about them. At one of the 5 Bread 2 Fish conferences, I made a promise to God that I would aid in this movement.

Since that time, any conference, sermon, etc. that talked about the movement in Asia, especially China, I would listen with keen interest and learn. I seeked out any kind of information about what was going on in China. It wasn't hard for me, because I've always had a keen interest in Chinese culture, and when I wasn't in Asia, I always felt like there was a magnet that was pulling me there. I yearned to be there.

I watched any movies about China I could get my hands on...I think I've seen every single one, and if I haven't, you bet I'll get my hands on it soon. And, everytime I watched, I would enjoy every minute of it, and yearned, yes, yearned to be there. I followed an organization called Half the Sky foundation, a children's home started by Americans that has many locations in China. One time, the year Jaeson Ma was at UT for Rez (Resurrection Week), I saw on the public board (where people walking by could write on), someone wrote, "I want to father 12 fatherless children", and that brought tears to my eyes. I think it's because I have a heart for orphans, and China, undoubtedly, has a lot of orphans. I once told God I wanted to adopt children from China. I know, without a doubt, that my future and God's purpose for me is in Asia.

As I look back, everything seemed to be for this purpose. I went out with a guy from Taiwan for 2 and a half years and dramatically improved my Chinese. I think he was even responsible for my interest in Asia a little bit, because I didn't speak Chinese all that much before him or was even interested in Asian things - mostly Korean, though. I started at a Chinese church and started listening to sermons in Chinese when I became Christian, so I know a lot of bibical vocabulary in Chinese. THE END. (Lol, I don't know how to end the story!)

This is my story. It's my whole life, because God is my whole life, and the reason why I'm here.

/edit/

Good sermon by Jaeson Ma, btw. This is Part 1, find Part 2/3 on Youtube.com. The title is "Noise to Signal".

everytime i get off the blue 5 bus, i say "thank you God for keeping me alive." hehe, jk...but that's how i really feel sometimes.

i went to get my second chemical peel the other day and the girl who did it for me was really funny. i asked her where to get good food around here and she's like "if you want to know about food, just ask me." then she started talking about dating, i.e. if a guy and a girl go out together by themselves, people will always think they're dating or like they each other....there is no "oh they're friends". i told her it's not like that in the u.s., when you see a guy and a girl together, it could be anything really. she goes, "well, then how do you know? it is, but it isn't, so is it or is it not?" lol. that's the way she talked.

there was this little boy on the blue 5 today and he was really cute. we use a YoYo Card here to pay for transportation...you just swipe it. so, he had it around his neck and when he went up to the machine on the bus, he leaned over the rail, stuck his head out, swiped his card, and got off - like he did it everyday. i mean, yeah, it sounds really normal, but i swear he was like 6. i don't even know how he was out by himself.

taiwan indigenous people, yay! i went to TITV (Taiwan Indigenous TV), and for all you immature people, yes, i know it spells "TIT" in the middle. how immature! anyway, i went today for dubbing and it was fun. interesting experience, even if i don't do it ever again. AND I SAW A CELEBRITY!!! i almost forgot! i've seen him on TV like a gajillion times, and i was sitting on the sofa, and he came over with his wife and kid, sat down, and ate lunch....RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! i was like, noooooo way this is happening. it's like i'm part of their family (laugh all you want) but after awhile, i was like, okay, he's just some normal person. lol. no big deal, really.

so people have been telling me they really enjoy reading my blog and i'm really happy! it's SO encouraging to me when people tell me they learn so much about God from me or they say they enjoying reading my posts. you guys are the ones encouraging me.

The Chinese title actually translates into "Valentine's Day", but the English title is "A Time to Love". The best Chinese movie ever...with the depth of emotion and storyline as The Notebook, but better!

rain, rain, go away...

it's been raining these past few days in taiwan and it suuuu (high-pitched tone)....uuuucks (and pitch comes down)...we straight? but all's well that ends well!

clothes smell good
my clothes smell good! now about the lint problem...

CEO of Ideata TBWA
had lunch with the the owner (yes, not CEO, the owner, as i found out) of Ideata TBWA at a French restaurant (ooh la la) and we was so nice! i thought it would be some serious conversation but he was so personable! he says that he's thinking about retiring soon, and after he finds someone to take over, he wants to start teaching or talking about his experience at a university. he's already done it a few times. we had a good two-hour talk about advertising, career, Taiwanese politics, etc. it was interesting! i told him my sister Jennifer is majoring marketing and he said he would love to talk to us both and invite us both to eat when she is in Taiwan. (Jennifer, if you read this before i tell you, surprise!) anyway, he knows lots of people in advertising, so since you're interested in brand management, he can hook you up! really nice man.

http://www.ideata.com.tw/

Taiwan Indigenous TV
they recently started this English-language thing where they broadcast a one-hour newcast on TV in English about the indigenous (yuan2 zhu4 ming2). they're talked about a lot, because there's this really popular show here like american idol and lots of contestants are idigenous people, because most of them, can sing really well. you know A-Mei? she is an indigenous Taiwanese. anyway, so my point is, they were looking for people who are native english speakers do help be like the broadcasters. i don't know if that's the word, but you know when they're broadcasting the news, and you hear the person narrating (lol)? that's what i applied for. so they called me and i'm going in for a test try. cooooool.

Teaching English
yah. decided not to take the part-time job and just substitute for this school. i'm going to HK for 3 weeks in december and my sister will be in taiwan for the last week in december, so it's just too much of a hassle to start working now. i can come back in january and get a full-time job since bible classes are in the evenings. perfect. i can even attend bible study. yay, now i can go visit my extended family in kaoshiung.

other lil' tidbits:

- you can get three big bottles of fresh-squeezed orange juice for 200NT ($6 U.S. dollars)
- i fit in more when i dress up than when i don't (go figure)
- prices for clothing in department stores in taiwan are similar to the u.s. but it's the fancy restaurants that you can go to for 1/3 or even 1/2 the price of fancy schmancy restaurants in the u.s. that makes sense. no, really. it makes a lot of sense.
- i got a blockbuster card. hehe. there are a mix of chinese and english movies in these blockbusters! not that i can't get my fill on crunchyroll.com, which is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.
- whenever i hear a testimony, i have the urge to sing. L.O.L. i like testimonies, tee hee.
- i can't get over the fact that mcdonald's in where i've been, taiwan and shanghai, have 24 hour delivery and they have a breakfast menu, which means i can wake up, dial mickey d's, get up, get dressed, have breakfast delivered, then head out the door. amazing. which is pretty much what i did when i was in shanghai and starving at 3 am.

Chile

Houston

Taiwan

(at the suggestion of Amy Lee!) <3


/edit/

I just went to the store and bought a lemon air freshener (my room - yay), two lavender spray fresheners (one for the bathroom, one for the kitchen), 3 new face towels in a package (blue, yellow, and pink), a mini baby powder teddy bear spray to put in my purse (for those awful public bathrooms), and a big thing of teddy bear fabric softener.

I am ecstatic.

EWWWWWW GROSS!!!

i never really tried to keep clean when i was in the u.s., because my mom always kept the house super clean. she always told me that if the mom is clean, the child will want to be clean as well. i always thought it was bullcrap, because that never happened in college. guess what? it's happening in taiwan.

i feel grossed out when i see pieces of hair or dirt on the ground and immediately sweep it up. i don't know why!! taiwan, when it rains, has this odd smell, and it makes the apartment smell different...like weird. also, most of the people here hang their clothes to dry, and i did the same, and my clothes came out funky!! my clothes always smell like Charmin' in the u.s.! if the floor is dirty, your feet will be dirty, and i can't stand my feet having little bits of stuff on it. i felt so disgusted.

the grossest thing happened today when i went to the bathroom at the church. it was one of those where you pee into a hole (i hear it's more sanitary) and i had to look down to make sure it didn't spray (now i know what guys feel, except we can't aim), so i smelled my own urine and almost barfed. then, i looked up, and the trash can was right there, without a cover. guess what i saw? someone went number 2, wiped, and didn't bother to cover it up. i almost barfed in my mouth. jk, but i had a really strong urge to puke.

so tomorrow, i'm going to "biao1" (run fast like lightning) to the grocery store and get myself plastic slippers to wear when i come out of the shower, like a huge thing of Charmin' fabric softener (that's the one with the teddy bear, right?), and a flower-smelling disinfecting spray to keep in my purse when i go to public restrooms.

but i guess it's good to experience these things. i will be evangelizing in countries that have far worse conditions, i'm sure. jeez, didn't know you could learn something from looking at leftover poop. (omg i want to barf just thinking about it). i want to throw myself into a pool of disinfecting liquid.

prayer is important ESPECIALLY when you least feel like it

i'm apparently not so bad at teaching, because the two kids i used to tutor in the U.S. "still haven't found one as good as you", to put it in the hiring person's words. i also landed a job teaching English and the owner of the place asked, "so what is your wish?", meaning what is your ideal situation. cool. praise the Lord for providing.

i visited another small group today and they were again very welcoming. we played a game and it was fun, comfortable, etc. to be around Christians, esp in a country like Taiwan. all i have to say is they definitely don't have the "southern hospitality" that texas has, of course! (do i feel a little texas pride? who would have thought!)

this march for spring break, i went with a group of UPenn students in the Wharton China Business Society at UPenn to visit multinational and local companies in Shanghai, and exchanged emails with the CEO of TBWA in Shanghai, one of the largest advertising conglomerates in the world. so, this led to that, and i had a webcam chat with the CEO of the TBWA agency here in Taiwan. before i graduated, we chatted about interning opportunities, etc. and he's inviting me to lunch and showing me around the agency next week. cool huh? maybe i can intern there on my free time and meet taiwanese celebrities!!

and just a day ago, i was fretting about how "not well" things were going here. how things change so quickly after prayer....

quick thoughts:

take things one day at a time. i think God is really, REALLY teaching me to solely rely on Him. we are reading about meekness (trusting events that happen are in God's plan...allowing God to use these events to change you for the better) in our small group (in the U.S.) and i am really having to fall back on these lessons in my life, especially when it's much easier to take things into my own hands.

JUST PRAY!!!!!

it's strange, but i just realized, no matter what i'm going through, i won't cry in front of people, i won't cry when i'm alone, etc. but when i get down to pray or pray to worship music, i start crying. lol. i won't even cry in front of family!

okay, so i wrote this because it just happened, and i forget things easily. this language school (this is the school that needed a teacher one day and i didn't go) actually called me! i didn't think they would because they were the ones that asked me to go in one day, and i didn't. and he was actually trying to meet my every request.

and get this: i had headphones on, because i was starting to pray to music on youtube
and the music stopped loading right when the phone was ringing. it's like God stopped the music so i could hear my phone ring. the person on the phone was the guy from the language school. haha. thanks God!

Sorry for doubting you, even for a second, God....

mom's chat/lesson

so i called my mom expecting to give her an update of what i've been doing...or what i did today, i think i called her two days ago too, lol. i'm like that; don't judge me.

anyway, i told her about all this drama on my dad's side of the family and she cleared up the situation for me and gave me a little lesson:

"families should have boundaries. what's yours is yours, what's mine is mine. keep everything clear. you don't meddle in their affairs. you do what you need to do there. if they want you to pay rent, it's fine. you're living there, so you should pay rent. this is reasonable."

okay, good.

then we started talking about how my uncle got really angry by watching taiwanese people call the China representative "zhong guo zhu", which means "Chinese pig." i thought it was hilarious how taiwanese people are so ridiculous. i told my mom that and this is the subsequent conversation that ensued:

mom: "there's one word you will use a lot in taiwan: unbelievable. you will not believe some of the things that happen there. maybe not for some of the more educated who have seen more, but there are many others who haven't."
me: "oh great. why didn't you tell me sooner. but this happens in any country, right?"
mom: "exactly. that is why i think it's good for you to go out and learn. live there and learn how to deal with those kind of people. learn how to deal with your family, how to get along with them. go out and observe, but be careful. there are a lot of people who will trick you in taiwan. just remember that whatever is not yours, is not yours. they prey on people with greedy hearts, and pray often, pray wherever you go."
me: you know that blue 5 bus? (lol) well, even when it goes up the mountain, the driver drives like he's in the fast and the furious III.
mom: oh okay. then you need to pray. (lol)

<3 such a wise mom.

christian concert...

was amazing! i also met my small group and they are a great group of guys and girls. one of the girls told me her testimony and yes, amazing. "with everything God has done in my life, i can't NOT believe in Him and praise Him. everytime i hear a worship song, i cry!"

they joke around all the time, but when it came time to pray for those people who went to the stage to receive Jesus, they were serious. it's a great combination to see in Christians. they are so passionate and not trying to be Christian but just are. so encouraging....i knew i would meet people like this at taipei bread of life....i've seen too many examples!

correction: TODAY is actually my birthday. lol...woops!

God is moving in Asia...

new name for blue 5: the death bus
new name for vanness wu for my sister: mr. so christian

dialogue with my sister:

me: so i have to tell you something!
jennifer: you met him?!
me: no! there were 50,000 people!
jennifer: he was an usher huh? lol...
me: lol, so retarded...

after i told her how vanness forgoed a concert in malaysia to do this for free, was praying backstage, doesn't have an agent anymore but relies on God, praised God onstage, and spoke in tongues:

jennifer: omg...he's so christian now! oh my gosh vanness...he's my brother in christ...! that's really attractive... (lol...what a retard)

Videos:

Vanness Wu


There are more videos, but it takes such a long time to load, and it already messed up once, so I'll post it on another entry.

Hope this fills your heart with glee, Jen. <3

*Birthday Alert* Today is My Birthday

my little sister in the u.s. wrote me on msn:
"tina =) says: byeee have a great birthday in your favorite country! love you"
how sweet! (she reads my blog so she'll probably see this). hi mei! here is her picture - (LOL Tina...now everyone's going to know what you look like):





on an unrelated note, i watched a movie on crunchyroll.com (check it out - it's awesome!) the other day called "letter from an unknown woman" directed by xu jinglei, an adaptation of another foreign film...really good movie, though i can see why some wouldn't think so. but, i love asian/chinese films, so i loved it. i especially like the narration...very poetic. it wasn't in plain chinese, because it was a woman writing a love letter at the end of her life to a guy she had had relations with (lol, Clinton) but the guy never remembered who she was, but she had liked him from when she was young until death. so romantic. *hand on forehead and sigh*


一个陌生女人的来信

A verse I just read that comforted me:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

- Philippians 4:6-7

/edit/

i got called in for an interview at this private english school and taught for 2 hours, 1 hour teaching composition, the other grading the compositions. afterwards, the teacher watching me said it was very good. then asked if i have an ARC and i said no. then she said i'm coming back monday morning to interview with the principal. this is more tiring than applying for big companies in the u.s., gosh darnit.

funny thing...i was grading their compositions, and it was about going to the store or something. at least 2-3 mentioned "it was on sale so my mom said i could buy it", or something to that degree. lol, you'll only see this kind of writing with chinese kids. i've never taught kids in the u.s., but it's just funny to see the way chinese are with money and how they teach their kids. "you can only buy it if it's on sale..." lol.

on the blue 5 going up the mountain today...i was STANDING, along with like 4 or 5 other people. i was holding on for my life, and some of the other people almost slid to the front at this one sharp curve. i head shoes screeching. haha.

/edit/

so my ex-boyfriend's good friend is also here in taiwan. he asked me how the job search was going, and i said good and told him the above. we talked about pay rate, etc. then i said, "all this talk about money is making me feel like....it's important to me", and he goes "it's not?" (lol..here's my IN!) and i go, "i need it, but i know God will provide", and he goes "God will provide? i don't feel provided at all. living under financial stress is hell", and i go, "i worry too, but i just know he'll provide. i prayed about this." and then i proceeded to tell him why i'm here and that teaching english is just something to sustain me. i told him i'm mostly glad i found a small group here at a good church. and i go, "i know you don't understand....", and he goes, "i wish i did." heh heh heh. gotcha.

i don't know if he has my blog address, but just in case...hi marco ma! you're my testimony. =) this will encourage a lot of people, i hope!

some random thoughts...

- i was riding the infamous blue 5 (yea, even you know what this is by now) up a mountain (where i now live) and the blue 5 is like a mini bus...but it's still a bus. the road is very narrow on the mountain and he was driving like he was in the fast and the furious III. there were about a billion chances to for him to "oops....oh well" and hit & run but he didn't hit anything. i was scared for my life.

- chinese relatives are HORRIBLE!!! they say "eat, eat...you're not giving me face! if you don't, you're not showing sincerity!" and i'm like, what does that have to do with anything? so instead of hoping to naturally lose weight in taiwan from all the walking, i think i've actually gained weight. and a lot of people in taiwan smoke so i'm eating at the same time inhaling second-hand smoke. if i don't die because i'm obese, i'll die from lung cancer.

- so im not that good at meeting strangers, esp old creepy men distant relatives. tonight there was this one creepy relative that kept staring at me. i moved to the living room and he would occasionally glance over. gosh what a creeper! i left and came back to this apt...thank goodness. i'd rather ride the blue 5 and get into an accident than have him stare at me like a creeper.

- this is the website of the church i'm attending now. it's the mother church of a small, Chinese home church in Houston. there are also divisions in san jose, cali. http://www.llc.org.tw/llcpage/. it's all in chinese, unfortunately.

- so God has really blessed me, because im in a small group with people that all have been abroad to study. we're doing the bible study in chinese, but at least they can understand me when i speak english. this is awesome cuz i get to improve my biblical chinese. woot. which is exactly what i'm looking for!

Pure Cuteness

Here is "Do Do", which means little dot or pea or something!






This is "Do Do" and "Xuan Xuan" (the little girl) mommy. She married from China to Taiwan, and she's only 24 - barely a year older than me! Her and her husband met through a friend of a friend's, I think, and I'm always surprised at how good she is at being a mommy.



This is a stand from the early-morning, traditional food market. My aunt said this meat was slaughtered yesterday - GROSS!







This is the stand (another one - lol) where we ate our breakfast. Yummy. The owner of the stand's daughter went to Columbia University!



More food!

I'm going a concert/sermon thing on Saturday with a small group I haven't met yet, lol. The person speaking is Rev. Franklin Graham and the performers are Vanness Wu, David Tao, and two other female singers I don't know, but I think they're pretty popular. This is a Christian event, so they brought Christian celebrities....Vanness Wu and David Tao are Christian, from what I've heard. Cool, huh?

jaywalking is normal in taiwan

and if you don't do it, people think you're stupid for waiting....just a little factoid.

so, today i moved to another location. this very convenient location that i'd been living in was remodeled and the relatives kicked out, so i can't live there either. anyway, i moved further up the street and up a mountain. oh yes, you heard me right, up a mountain. only one bus gets there - the familiar Blue 5, and it doesn't come to my door, but at the bottom of the mountain. L.O.L. i have to walk up the freaking mountain. the grocery store is also at the bottom of the mountain. ha-ha. are you kidding me? i'm living with my cousin...who i hear is very dirty. she works at night so she's not there most of the time. that means...partaaay. jk. it just means more privacy...a little more than i'd like, so i'll probably be having people over.

anyway, as my aunt and uncle were cleaning, i had a thought. the other day, i was reading lord, only you can change me by kay arthur and it talked about meekness and sovereighnty (sp?). it means knowing that God is in control and he can take any situation and bring glory to Himself. this is also a good learning experience when i do missions in china in the future. i'm sure china is far worse...at least i have a/c. the kind of cleaning you do here is different than the kind you do in the u.s. the houses in the u.s. have nice floors and nice kitchens, etc. so cleaning is not so bad. this kind of cleaning is pretty gross, because the kitchen floor has a little gutter (lol) so when you clean, you pretty much scrub the floor and pour water over the floor. i felt like puking when i saw my aunt clean the bathroom and kitchen. for regular water, i have to bowl it, wait for it to cool, then pour into a container. omg. im used to using electric water boiler (i forgot the technical term). i live on the fifth floor and there's no elevator. hahahaha. im sure many places i will go on missions to will have far worse conditions and i may have to do a little cleaning. good practice - for when i have a family and for missions.

an aside: there's a mousepad with a big, pink pig on the front that says, "hi, i am puki". LOL. you need to pronounce it "puky" instead of "pooki". my cousin who lives in chile and has lived in this apt cracked up when i told her. she said the same thing when she was here. lol. she's coming january - woohoo! never been in taiwan the same time as her. should be fun.

man, there were many funny things that happened today, but i forgot to write it down, and forgot them! too many things happen in one day.

my uncle came today (my dad's younger brother and the chilean cousin's dad) and the first thing he said to me was, "woah....oh, and don't hunch your back." lol. thanks. i knew it.

i haven't had my milk tea today. i feel like i'm missing something...this has become an addiction.

i'm a little behind....

so, i didn't write in my blog yesterday, so this is what happened yesterday as well as today. not all of it, just the more interesting parts. i went to a bookstore called Page One in Taipei 101 yesterday and just roamed around by myself. i asked the guy at the counter for the section with the pamphlets with things to do in Taiwan, etc. i didn't know how to say "pamphlet" so said the version I used in Chinese class, which is the version that people in China use "ce4 zi" and the girl gave me a confused look. so, i said pamphlet in English and the guy next to her started speaking in English with a face that seemed to say, "please, who cares if you can speak English, so can I", no smile. so, some people in Taiwan thinks it's so cool you can speak English and there are some that think ABC's (American Born Chinese) are all stuck up, which is true sometimes if you look at some of them behave here. but, what the heck am i supposed to do?! it's my native language! but then again, maybe i'm thinking too much. on the other hand, there's so much Asian literature here that bookstores in the U.S. don't have!!

then i met up a friend i met last time i was here at Xi Men Ding. it's a really cool shopping area but filled with high-schoolers, tattooed people, emos (sorry that's not the correct term, but u get mah drift), etc. i met her at a restaurant called "the tricycle restaurant"...don't ask me why! i didn't name the restaurant. i went there a year and a half ago once before i left for the u.s. and they had the BEST milk tea i had ever tasted in my ENTIRE life, and i've been thinking about it since then, lol. you never forget your first love. lol, that's not true, actually. i haven't forgotten any of my exes but i wish i could. the idiots are engrained in my mind. lol, jk. i took a picture of my milk tea so i can remember it forever. i love you. *kiss* anyway, she's this really cool girl who was also an intern at the international cooperation and development fund in tianmu. really smart. she's getting her masters degree in international relations right now. we just caught up and talked. i told her my testimony. lol, everyone i know in taiwan is going to know my testimony because it's basically why i came to taiwan. "oh, so why are you in taiwan?" and then goes my testimony... we started shopping around and she told me that her courses are really difficult. she told me about this one class where the teacher is super strict and scary. the class is on a thursday, and every wednesday, one of her classmates, while studying, has a bloody nose. LOL. i mean, everyone pretty much just stays up the night before and studies, but this one particular guy's nose always bleeds when he studies for this class and no other time. lol. talk about pressure...."hao3 kwa1 zhang1"!

i found a store called "CheckFun" (rarely does an english name ever make sense here....they're creative though...) in ximending and it just had these really cute things! i found a corner where they had these miniature like sofas, chalkboards that look like they were meant for a dollhouse. so cute. i also found chocolate-flavored, strawberry-flavored, etc. straws! they're little chocolate pebbles enclosed inside the straw and when you sip the straw, the liquid you're drinking passes through and melts these little pebbles making the liquid taste like whatever flavored pebbles are in the straw. oh shoot. didn't take a picture of those. that's okay, they're only 20NT...i'll probably go to the store again and take pics.

so, i came home and took the "Blue 5" again, and remember when i said all the people rush to the bus? well, this time, i stood at the front and people STILL managed to cut me! you really have to be tough. anyway, i was standing in line, and this guy was holding a shopping bag. suddenly this girl rushes past him and knocks his bag upwards really high, really obvious, and really fast and gets onto the bus. LOL. the guy after him let me go first, probably because he was afraid i would also be "mong3" like the girl. it's taiwanese slang for "aggressive" i think.

after i got off the bus, i went into a small, dingy, and really full stationery store. a tv was playing in the back and there was a shelf in the middle dividing the store into two sections. perfect setting for a horror movie. i walked down the left section towards the tv and i turn to make a right and an old lady was sitting on the ground watching tv! you know those Chinese movies with those old lady ghosts? she freaked the heck out of me! she had white hair, tiny, skinny, and sitting on the ground with her legs curled up and arms around her legs. i almost had a heart attack. then, i proceeded to leave the store, fast and furiously. heh heh.

oh and i forgot the other day i went to the Tonghua Street night market right around here. it's still the same. i wasn't really interested in buying any clothes there. there was only this one store called "Hana", which means flower in Japanese. their clothes are from Korea, and they're really nice, quality clothes and accessories. the rest of the stuff in the night market is crap. people just go there for the food and snacks, which are really good. there's more variety at Shilin night market though. i went with my aunt, cousin, cousin's gf, aunt's husband's younger brother's wife and two kids. lol....family is really important in Chinese culture.... today, i went to get a chemical peel at this skin cosmetic center. it didn't hurt at all but it made my face all red and blotchy. i got a lot of stares so i just stayed home. oh yah, i went to the park with my aunt, cousin, etc....mainly so the kids could play and get some exercise. but i pretty much stayed home, because my skin looked horrible. i also took a nap. boring. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. oh yah, my friend William called me to go out again. HE HAS GREAT TIMING.

talk with the lady at starbucks

so, i went to the starbucks in the taipei medical university near where i live to use the internet. i was preparing to relax, get on the internet, listen to music, people watch, etc. i went in and a lady sitting by herself offered me a seat where she had put her stuff because it was closer to the outlet. i noticed she had the book the Life of Pi (a classic).

i thanked her, set up my stuff, bought my internet card (100NT - 3 U.S. dollars - for a whole day, incredibly cheap), bought a drink and sat down. my internet worked fine, but then all of a sudden, it stopped working.

i asked the starbucks employee to help me, and after everything she did, she said everything was fine. i thought that was weird so i kept trying to figure it out. i saw the lady who offered me a seat kept looking over at me and my computer. i looked over at her and smiled. then, she started talking to me, lol.

she asked me if i was ABC (i guess they can tell, haha), and i said yes. she then asked me what i was doing here and since my internet wasn't working, i kept talking to her. after a while, i looked at my internet, and guess what?! the wireless wasn't on! i think God switched it off, lol.

anyway, we started talking and i told her i arrived just three days ago and proceeded to tell her the story of why i came. i asked her why she was here, and she said "to see the doctor" (kan4 bing4)....literally it's "to check out her disease/sickness" but it could mean anything from a cold to something more serious. kan4 bing4 is very general. i mean, it was the taipei medical university. she looked tired and worn.

then her next question surprised me. she goes, "you just seem....so...happy". and i kind of chuckled and said, "i'm christian?" then she goes, "does that make a difference?" she spoke english well. and i proceeded to tell her my testimony....i told her that before i came here, i had a job, i chased after money, etc. but i realized that life isn't about that, etc. i said more about my ex-job. i asked if she was christian, and she said yes, but not very familiar with it. i don't know why she said yes. maybe she had accepted christ in the past....

i asked her what she does and she goes, "i'm an international saleswoman...but i don't like my job. when i see other people that love their jobs, i'm so envious, because i want to be able to find a job that i love too." i thought, is her sickness so bad that she can't start over?

then she goes "you seem very ambitious", and i laughed and said, "what's the definition of ambitious? i would say i was ambitious in regards to pursuing career and everything before, but now ambitious means something else altogether for me." she goes, "you're from the u.s., so your parents must have some money to take care of you. it's not like you need to work hard to put food on the table. why are you so ambitious still?" well, i explained to her that there are too many opportunities in this world not to pursue them, and i felt that if i became a lawyer, i would be able to tell people, yeah i'm a lawyer. but again, i realize that life isn't about that at all." then i had to leave for a bit for some reason, i came back, and we just started talking about something else.

when she got up to leave, she smiled and said bye, and i smiled and said "it was great talking with you."

WOW. when i was there, it felt like a regular conversation with a woman, but now that i think back on it, i hope it was a powerful testimony that gave her hope and transformed her thinking, esp in the kind of situation she was in. many times when people do what they call "evangelize", it seems like a glorious thing and you're doing so much for God, but honestly, it's just about being yourself and having other people see the life of Christ in you, esp people like her. we really aren't sacrificing a lot, albeit, i did suffer and learn A LOT to be in this position, but i realize now, it's all for the glory of God! all of that learning is so i can tell other people what God has done in my life. God really is the one doing all the behind-the-scenes work and we are his result.

WOW...all glory to God and none to me, because i pretty much did nothing. lol.

i hope to whoever is reading this, it lifts you up.

God Bless!!

/edit/

I'm feelin' this song, oh yeeeeaaaah......

"THE SHOUT OF THE EARTH WILL BE YOUR PRAISE,
GOD FOREVER,
AND THE LIGHT UNTO ALL WILL BE YOUR WONDERFUL NAME,
FOR THE GLORY LORD IS YOURS,
GOD FOREVER,
ALL THE GLORY LORD IS YOURS....."

KING ABOVE KINGS!

breakfast in taipei and etc.

i just went to buy breakfast here, and it's amazing. that's the only word i can use to describe it. they have breakfast EVERYWHERE (just like Shanghai) and you can eat whatever your heart desires. i bought some small-sized food dishes(i should have taken a picture at the store....). i took a picture of my leftovers, hahaha. which, i'm sure, is exactly what you want to see. oh well! that's what you get. =P

anyway, yesterday i went to the church youth worship (sermon afterwards...kind of like a sunday service), and darn, should've taken a picture of that as well. it was AMAZING! they worshipped like they were crazy people...jumping up and down, praising loudly, praying out loud every so often for certain things, and the topic was about treasures in heaven and it was very honest, as i expected. some of the things i took away were:

1. make sure your motivations for studying and working are right - to glorify God and not amass treasures for yourself.

2. we have to be careful not to be sucked into being greedy for the treasures of the world. this is something that will happen unbeknownst us if we are not careful.

3. the economic turmoil currently happening is proof that the treasures of this world are not everlasting and can be gone in a second.

4. the young pastor was confident that God is preparing to give us much more, esp in light of these events, if we just let go of our greed for the treasures of this world.

fortunately, i have already learned this lesson, lol. woot.

i think the people in taipei are so nice....if you are nice to them. i used to think that they were so mean, but i think it was because of my attitude last time.

unrelated note: my skin looks worse here because the heat is making my pores bigger. DARN IT!

Some Pictures...Only Some, Not A lot

This is the baby I had in Taiwan.....I wish! Not I wish I had a random baby in Taiwan, but maybe I can have a cute baby like this in the future. Lol....wait, I don't even have a boyfriend! It's going to be a long, long time...lol

Little Baby again...

The cute, little baby....his mom just lets him walk around without his diapers on after he poopies or pees. Hahaha....

The street I live on called Wu Xing Jie. The Taipei Medical Center is right behind us, and it's where I am right now, in a Starbucks, away from my aunt, lol. Whew.

This is my aunt and her husband's little brother's wife's kids. Yay. He's REALLY, REALLY cute. He'll just smile the most genuine smile at you. He's not even one yet, and he seems really mature and naughty. The cutest personality ever.

This is the older one of the kids. She has a pissed off look, but she looks really cute when she smiles. <3>

I have some videos, but they're not uploading, for some reason. These are all the pictures I have, because i've been running errands, and not taking pictures. Besides, I look like a tourist when I take pictures, and people just freaking STARE TOO MUCH HERE! Okay, yah, it's a little annoying, and that was a little bit of anger, but I'm fine. lol.

today was another eventful day. first few days or even months in a country are always eventful -something new happens every hour, i swear.

so, i woke up and my aunt had already bought breakfast - cold noodles (liang2 mian4). it was okay, not my favorite. it was raining outside. then, i called several english schools and a friend i had met in taiwan last summer. we had a short conversation then my aunt was rushing me to go to the optometrist to get glasses. boo, i don't want glasses. i took my gu1 die1's younger brother's wife's kid hsuen hsuen (a cute little girl that resembles Boo in Monsters Inc.) to 7-Eleven to get drinks, because i wanted 7-Eleven drinks - i love 7-Eleven. then i took my computer in my backpack and went downstairs to a place called "E-Coffee". i tried to get on the internet, but couldn't. UHG. bummer and so annoying. i'm going to starbucks next time.
came home, then went to get the prescription for my glasses.

then, i went to a school called global village. i waited at the bus stop for the number 5 stop, which takes me to the Taipei City Hall MRT Station. the place is in the middle of a large-ass shopping street called Zhongxiao Dong Lu and I stopped at the Zhongxiao Dunhua Station. this was my first time riding an mrt since i first came back from taiwan. i sat next to a pretty girl, lol. but pretty girls are everywhere in taiwan.

so i came out of the mrt station and there it was - shopping. dun dun dun dun! it's everywhere! you need to tell yourself beforehand that you WILL NOT, at all costs, buy anything. because, once you buy one thing, you're going to let go and buy everything you see. honest to God. anyway, the girl who sat at the front desk of global village was called mina, very sweet and told me "sorry! my english isn't very good!" then she proceeded to have me a read a passage out of a magazine - easy shmeazy.

i walked out of the elevator, out of the building, and INTO THE SHOPPING STREET. dun dun dun dun. i was out anyway, so i just started walking down the street and window shopping, mostly. i passed a travel agency and went in to check ticket prices for a trip to HK. THEN, i found TEN REN TEA - oh my God!!!!!!!! (sorry). that is like, my favorite place to buy tea.

i walked in, full of glee, and oh so excited. i wanted to order everything on the menu. but instead, i ordered a milk tea, because it was safe and my favorite anyway. i walked up to the counter and ordered it. she asked me "how sweet do you want it?" you can say "1/3 sugar", "1/2 sugar", and so i asked, how sweet is your regular? she goes "our regular is VERY good" like she was stating a fact. i thought it was funny so i widened my eyes and chuckled, and said "okay, i'll take that." the guy working there was standing there and watching, looked at me and chuckled. he was so cute.

i continued shopping and found some incredibly, incredibly cute clothes, which i will buy later. lol. it's too soon in the game to start shopping. two people approached me and the girl was like "your purse!" and i was like, what? and she goes, what is that called? i said, longchamp. she's like, where do you buy it? i go, i bought it in the u.s., but i'm sure you can buy it here too. and she goes, oh. how much is it, etc....

THEN, the guy she was with was like "hey you have the acne scars on your face. do you know this doctor right over here, etc." i'm like, omg, they're trying to advertise to me without looking like they're trying to advertise. great. so i just mumbled something, like i'm already going to go to another doctor, etc. and left. totally felt like a dumba** to the people around me, but all in all, it was fun shopping!

i walked to the nearest mrt station (i love the freedom!) and rode the mrt back to Taipei City Hall MRT station. i always feel like people are looking at my in taiwan. for some reason, i always feel like they can tell i'm not from taiwan. is that true that people in taiwan can tell if you're not in taiwan like we can tell when a chinese person wasn't born in the u.s.?

i waited for the "Blue 5" bus that would take me back to where i live, and what's funny is that, the bus is really small, right? so i'm waiting over there and then the "Blue 5" comes from a distance and in a split second, people are literally SPRINTING over to the stop. i forgot about this last time. they don't form a line....they bunch together near the entrance. the last person trying to get out had a hard time - she had to push through people! there was this american guy who i think has been living here a while because he saw the bus i think the second it turned the corner, and rushed there before anyone else, lol, but he still wasn't fast enough than the other chinese people. hahaha.

i came home and my uncle had already cooked dinner. then my friend william called me to go to Luxy, a club mainly for foreigners, because it's incredibly overpriced, and i actually said no. woot. this is me resisting. it's actually not that fun. i'd rather go to a nice bar, sit around, and chat. i don't really feel the need to go dancing unless i'm with friends and he was going with his friends. no thank you.

my aunt called me to tell me she made an appt for me to see the skin doctor tuesday and asked if i wanted her to accompany me to youth worship at church tomorrow. yes, of course! i don't know anyone. i'm going mainly to find out about the small groups, bible studies, music training, etc. yay.

i just finished eating and i'm so tired. i have to call people in the u.s. and read Lord, Only You Can Change Me, the book my small group in Houston is reading. wow, it's only my second day in taiwan.

first day - less than perfect but still taiwan

so, after a long flight on eva airlines (the stewardesses could be asian supermodels), where i watched the hulk and get smart, plus some random taiwanese tv shows, i arrived in taiwan, and it actually felt...commonplace. i came last year, and i was so excited about being here, i swear i almost jumped out the window of my aunt's car. but this time, it was a different feeling. it's great being here, because i love this place, but it feels very everyday.

also, yes, asia is enticing for those shopaholics, or people who love to go out, but for some reason, i don't feel the need to have to go to those places. i think it's because i made some mistakes last year - "everything's so cheap! i'm going to buy everything i see!" - that i know to be more careful this time. and even if you think that you'll wear the things you buy here in the u.s., you won't. because the u.s. is so, so, so much more casual than taiwan could ever be. i can't find a normal t-shirt here, for example. it has to have some kind of special design or special picture on it that makes it look very un-hollister or un-gap. gap wouldn't make it here in taiwan. anyway, i am usually really into the pop culture and fashion here, but i don't feel like i will this time. that is a really good thing.

anyway, i went to the bank and cell phone store and realized you need some form of a taiwanese ID for everything. and, in order to work, i need an ARC, which only the schools can get for me easily. GREAT. plus, my visa is only for 60 days, which means i have to leave the country every 60 days until i get the ARC. another plus. my first day in taiwan is going great. went to go eat breakfast with my aunt and the food is amazing. it was a regular stall in the early morning market and a pretty run-down place, and my aunt actually said it was pretty normal, but i thought it was amazing. houston just doesn't have food like this.

i freaked out about the visa thing so i called the helpline for http://www.tealit.com/. some very funny american guy living in taiwan answered and helped me with everything i needed. he sounded cute and intelligent. but anyway, i went to several english schools to apply for jobs with my aunt and cousin. the american guy said it shouldn't be a problem. things are always harder than you can imagine...

i got green tea and milk tea! their drinks are just so different here. houston really can't compare. new york city chinatown has comparable drinks, but houston can't compare, even though we a have a large Chinese population. you would think that would make some kind of a difference.

at night, i went out with a friend of mine i met here in taiwan last summer named william. he's from australia and has been living in taiwan for about a year and a half. he just bought a car and is opening a restaurant franchise called "coffee museum". isn't that the coolest name ever? he says he doesn't like coffee or museums, but what the heck, it's a cool name, plus his dad knows the owner or something like that. didn't really listen that carefully.

i made a crapload of calls, i.e. English schools, Bread of Life Taipei church, etc., etc. i'm going to join a small group and bible study here. maybe i'll learn to play the guitar.

all this depends on if i actually get a job....please pray for me!

<3 shoutout to my friends and small group! <3